That line of thinking is part of the problem. It's terrible that the author lost his money, but misconceptions only ensure this will happen over and over.

Coinbase != bank.

The banking system has a safety net for recovery of stolen funds. Coinbase has pretty much jack squat in that sense.

True, Coinbase is insured against loss from its hot wallet. But if Coinbase were to suffer a loss from its cold wallet, you'd be left with zilch.

Likewise, Coinbase's terms of service put all of the responsibility for security on you, the user.

Your bank is a different story. It's FDIC insured. It has in place numerous security measure that enable it to claw back any digital theft and make you whole.

Coinbase is not regulated like a bank. Just to pick a relevant point, if someone makes an unauthorized withdrawal from your bank account, that is fraud and your liability is limited. The bank has responsibility for making sure they identify you. https://budgeting.thenest.com/banks-liability-there-identity...

This is the first analogy that sprang to my mind as well but as they noted Coinbase gets all the upside and you get little in return. When you put your money in a bank typically you earn interest in exchange for the bank having your money.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but at least in the US banks take on all risk of fraud. If someone starts writing bad checks in your name, that's ultimately the bank's problem rather than yours.